In wireless communication systems, antennas are used to transmit and receive radio frequency signals. In general, the antennas can be omni-directional or unidirectional. In addition, there exist antenna systems which provide directive gain with electronic scanning rather than being fixed. However, many such electronic scanning technologies are plagued with excessive loss and high cost. In addition, many of today's wireless communication systems provide very little room for antennae elements.
Traditional Yagi-Uda arrays consist of a driven element (by this we mean a signal is fed to the element by a transmitter or other signal source), called the driver or antenna element, a reflector, and one or more directors. The reflector and directors are not driven, and are therefore parasitic elements. By choosing the proper length and spacing of the reflector from the driven element, as well as the length and spacing of the directors, the induced currents on the reflector and directors will re-radiate a signal that will additively combine with the radiation from the driven element to form a more directive radiated beam compared to the driven element alone. The most common Yagi-Uda arrays are fabricated using a dipole for the driven element, and straight wires for the reflector and directors. The reflector is placed behind the driven element and the directors are placed in front of the driven element. The result is a linear array of wires that together radiate a beam of RF energy in the forward direction. The directivity (and therefore gain) of the radiated beam can be increased by adding additional directors, at the expense of overall antenna size. The director can be eliminated, which leads to a smaller antenna with wider beam width coverage compared to Yagi antennas utilizing directors. The dipole element is nominally one-half wavelength in length, with the reflector approximately five percent longer than the dipole and the director or directors approximately five percent shorter than the dipole. The spacing between the elements is critical to the design of the Yagi and varies from one design to another; element spacing will vary between one-eighth and one-quarter wavelength.